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Friday, June 24, 2011

hurry up and wait

I knew this summer would be different from usual summers because we were buying a house and moving. I just couldn't quite know HOW it would be different.

We closed on the house nearly 3 weeks ago! Yay! And since then, it has been a series of "things". Things that seem like they shouldn't take any time at all, but before you know it the whole day is gone.

We are still living in the "old" house. For anyone who asks if we "have moved", the answer is, "it's a process...we are moving." Oh my. Goodwill and friends and grandkids and trash.

Trash - that brings me to the first issue. We have government trash cans. It's the thing now in lots of places, and we are nothing here in the Deep South, if not cutting edge. Only problem is, the garbage can that was supposed to come with the house, didn't. I have made 6 phone calls this week, talked to 2 live humans, and left 4 voicemails - none of which have been returned to our local government. I am no closer to getting a garbage can than I was on Monday when I started. Really? How hard is it to call me back or have someone drop off a garbage can?? Oh...sorry to vent!

We have ordered rugs and gone to pick them up.

(I think this one is going to look really nice in my Mom Cave, but I'm not sure my husband shares my vision.)

And then we have gone back to pick up the one that wasn't there when it was supposed to be there.

You can see in this picture that the kids found the sound and video equipment that came with the house.

It didn't take them long to figure out how to make the speakers work so that the whole house and the outside ROCK.

Oh joy!

We bought a dryer (at a greatly discounted price)

and then searched high and low for the discontinued matching washer at a not-so-discounted price.

We bought furniture and waited for it to be delivered.

And then we have waited for the furniture that was delivered damaged to be picked up and new furniture delivered.

We have painted an olive green room hunter green.

And changed a pink, girly room in to a China Blue teen-boy room.

We have enjoyed the pool and had friends over.

Oh...and we've waited for the pool people,

because as you can see from the picture, our pool was "going green".

I don't know anything about pool maintenance.

And below, you see younger teen enjoying the balcony.

I'm sure not everyone puts their Boy Scout cot out on the balcony and covers with a beach towel.

But what do we know?

Kinda like the Beverly Hill Billies....

One reason we had friends over was because of this:

We decided to put granite in the kitchen.

But the back-splash had to be removed.

I thought it would just be a matter of popping some tiles off of the wall.

HAHAHAHAHA.

Several hours later, I posted my frustration on Facebook,

and one of my friends offered help.

She and my oldest son pounded the tiles into oblivion.

But within an hour, the backsplash was no more.

The backsplash had to be removed, so I could wait for the granite guy to come make these:

It is a template of the kitchen countertops. Currently folded up and laying on the floor in the garage.

He couldn't fit it in his car.

(But he said I didn't have to wait for him to come get it....

He would call, and I could just put it on the driveway.)

And the one thing I don't have a picture of is waiting for the kids to get off the roof.

Never thought that would be one of the rules I would have to go over when friends come over.

Ummm...please refrain from walking on the roof of my house....really???

My "issues" I guess, are the feeling of not accomplishing very much, seeing the huge amount of stuff that remains to be done (hard to purge and pack when you're waiting at the other house....)

Time for "me stuff" has been so limited.

Workouts...I'm thinking of putting my membership on hold.

Time in prayer or with the Blessed Sacrament...besides Mass, virtually non-existent.

Blogging....judge for yourself.

But in the end...it will all be worth it.

A picture from my Mom-Cave, where I've moved some stuff and spent some time organizing and unpacking while I wait...

Thanks, Holly. The home, itself is a blessing. Right now my "laundry room" is a stackable washer/dryer in our bathroom. My teenagers share a room, and two people in our kitchen is one too many! I never dreamed I would live in something like this, we weren't really looking for a house, and a pool was not even on the list. But everything just fell into place... God is awesome!

Remember my rants and grumbling about how the move was not going as I wanted it to go? We closed on the house August 24th. We spent the first night in it September 4th. We finally emptied the last of the crap out of the hovel at the end of September. All while working my job, the Devildog working overnights, and the 3 kids in school? All because the V.A. appraisal took the scenic tour of cyberspace and never arrived at its intended destination! Had that one key piece been where it should've been and when, I could've spent the week before school cleaning and painting my house and been able to sleep in it probably a week or two sooner, and got the hovel emptied faster. While I don't have a pool in my back yard (and I'm absolutely ok with that!) I do have a retention pond that attracts wildlife. Aside from the snake in our garage a few weeks ago, it's been a lovely view.

The list of good things about formica countertops just goes on and on. They are the best choice that you can make if you want to redo the look of your kitchen or bathroom. Not only are they inexpensive, but they can also bring an aesthetic value to these areas of your home.

About Me

I'm the wife of one ancient man and the mom of two teen beings with Y chromosomes.
I teach middle school special ed, and I'm slightly "touched".
I've always been Catholic, but in recent years my faith has become much more important in my life. Now I'm a "Happy Catholic."